Jody Scheckter JODY SCHECKTER Country: South Africa Born: January 29, 1950 in East London South Africa When Jody Scheckter won the Formula One World Championship in 1979, he became the first South African to win a world title. Scheckter joined the Formula One circuit in 1974, winning the British and Swedish Grand Prix. That year, he placed third in world championship rankings and was named Driver of the Year by the British Guild of Motoring Writers. In 1976, he again ranked third in the world championships. The following year, Scheckter was runner-up in his quest for the world title, with triumphs in Argentina, Monaco, and Canada. In 1979, following Grand Prix wins in Belgium, Monaco, and Italy, he captured the World Formula One Racing Car Championship. Prior to entering the Grand Prix circuit, Scheckter was a prominent stockcar racer in his native South Africa, graduating to Formula Ford and Formula Two racing in the early 1970s.

In 1972, he won the American Formula 5000 Championship and was awarded South Africa’s Springbok honors, his nation’s highest sports commendation. Scheckter retired in 1980 at age 30. Jody Scheckter Explained Jody Scheckter Explained Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African former auto racing driver. He is the Formula One World Drivers' Champion . Career Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa , and educated at Selborne College . Formula One He rapidly ascended to the ranks of Formula One after moving to Britain in 1970. His Formula 1 debut occurred at the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1972 with McLaren , where he ran as high as third place before spinning and finishing ninth. Immediately becoming a name to watch, he continued his development the following year, winning the 1973 SCCA L&M Championship and racing five times in F1.

In France, he almost won in only his third start in F1 before crashing into Emerson Fittipaldi , the reigning World Champion, who said after the crash about Scheckter: "This madman is a menace to himself and everybody else and does not belong in Formula 1." In his next start, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone , Scheckter was involved in a major accident which took nearly a dozen cars out of the race. The Grand Prix Drivers Association demanded his immediate banishment, which was only put off when McLaren agreed to rest their driver for four races. Scheckter's McLaren M23 bore the number zero during the Canadian and American Grands Prix of 1973. Scheckter is one of only two F1 drivers to compete under this number, the other being Damon Hill . During the practice for the American event at the Watkins Glen circuit, Frenchman François Cevert , who was due to be Scheckter's Tyrrell teammate for 1974, was killed in an appalling accident at the fast uphill Esses corners.

Scheckter was behind Cevert when he crashed, and he stopped his McLaren, got out of his car and attempted to help Cevert out of his destroyed Tyrrell, but the 29-year-old Frenchman had been cut in half by the circuit's poorly installed Armco barriers and was already dead. Witnessing Cevert's dreadful accident left an indelible mark on the South African and caused him to abandon his reckless ways, becoming a more mature and calculating driver as a result. [2] Tyrrell in 1974 gave him his first full-time drive in F1. Jody rewarded them with a third-place finish in the drivers' championship and a pair of wins in Sweden and Britain . During the year, he scored points in eight consecutive races, one of the longer scoring streaks of the time. A slight off-year followed, although he did become the only South African to win the South African Grand Prix , but his third year with the team in 1976 gave him another third-place finish in the drivers' championship. In that season, Tyrrell introduced the most radical car in F1 history, the innovative six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 .

Although he later went on record as saying the car was "a piece of junk", Scheckter gave the six-wheeler its only win on Sweden's Anderstorp circuit and in his twelve races with the car, he scored points ten times. This included a thrilling race-long battle for the lead in the American Grand Prix between himself and his great friend James Hunt . Scheckter left for Walter Wolf 's new team in 1977 and Scheckter gave the team a win in its maiden race. He won twice more with the team and was often on the podium, but finished second on points behind a more dominant Niki Lauda . A seventh-place finish with the team in 1978 followed and he left the team after the season to join Ferrari to partner Gilles Villeneuve in the team's ground effect 312T4 car. Critics felt he would not get along well with the domineering management at Ferrari, but he far surpassed expectations and helped give F1's most recognisable team another constructors' championship, while Scheckter's consistent finishes, with three wins among them, gave him the drivers' championship in 1979.

[3] However, he struggled badly in his 1980 title defence, even failing to qualify for one race. After managing only two points, Scheckter announced his retirement from the team and the sport. Scheckter was the last driver to win a drivers' championship for Ferrari until Michael Schumacher twenty one years later in . After Formula One Broadcaster In 1981 CBS Sports hired Scheckter as a Pit reporter for its F1 coverage. Scheckter was a guest commentator for ITV during the 1999 San Marino Grand Prix , replacing Martin Brundle . Other interests In 1981, Scheckter won the World Superstars competition in Key Biscayne, Florida. He defeated athletes such as Russ Francis , Renaldo Nehemiah , Peter Mueller, Rick Barry , Gaétan Boucher and Andy Ripley . In 1983 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame . After Scheckter's retirement, he founded FATS Inc, a company which built firearms training simulators for military, law enforcement and security organisations. The sale of the company provided funds to allow Scheckter to help the racing careers of his sons Tomas and Toby .

Tomas races in the Indy Racing League where he has won two races. Scheckter's brother, Ian , also raced in F1 for a few years. In 2004 Scheckter was reunited with his championship-winning Ferrari at the South African two-seater F1x2 Charity Grand Prix at Kyalami in South Africa. Present Scheckter now spends his time as an biodynamic farmer , [4] having bought Laverstoke Park Farm , near Overton, Hampshire , 40miles west of London. As an organic farming expert, Scheckter was featured in 2005 on the Visionhealth DVD and TV documentaries " Asthma : An Integrated Approach", " Arthritis : An Integrated Approach" and " Diabetes : An Integrated Approach". On 20 November 2011, he also appeared on the Countryfile television show to make a case for organic food . Laverstoke Park Farm was also featured on BBC's "Escape To the Country" where Jody showed viewers how Buffalo Mozzarella was made. In December 2009, Scheckter announced his intention to produce a biodynamic sparkling wine by 2012.

In 2015 the farm was the setting for ITV's Sugar Free Farm where a group of celebrities had to go sugar free for two weeks whilst working on the farm. Embarking on the radical regime were musical theatre star Jane McDonald, comedian Rory McGrath, quiz mastermind and Chaser Mark Labbett, actress Tupele Dorgu, TOWIE’s James ‘Arg’ Argent and dancer Jennifer Ellison. [5] He is married and has six children: two, Toby and Tomas , from his previous wife Pamela; and four, Hugo, Freddie, Ila and Poppy, from his current marriage to Clare. Racing record Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Jody Scheckter: From Formula One to life in the slow lane | The Independent Profiles Jody Scheckter: From Formula One to life in the slow lane The former Grand Prix motor racing champion started organic farming as a hobby 14 years ago, but it has since turned into a passion and major business.

Susie Mesure meets Jody Scheckter Saturday 4 September 2010 23:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Being told to "belt up" barely 10 minutes into an interview would normally bode badly but Jody Scheckter means well enough. The one-time enfant terrible of motor racing knows better than most what happens when he steps on the gas and he is not taking any chances. It's hardly Monza, but I swear the needle hits 60 as the grass blurs outside my window. I need him to slow down because I'm trying to pick out the 31 different herbs, clovers and grasses that Scheckter claims have turned the 2,500 acres on his Laverstoke Park Farm into a "mixed salad" for the various beasts that roam his land. We are heading for a field of water buffalo, which The Independent on Sunday photographer hopes will provide a suitable background for some shots to accompany this piece. The hairy black beasts are a far cry from the Formula One glamour girls in backdrops past, but they look just as beautiful to Scheckter.

Where I see flies, he sees hope that his 14-year farming odyssey might yet strike gold. After sinking "an embarrassing amount" of his £60m personal fortune into setting up one of the UK's most impressive organic farms, Scheckter, 60, knows that the clock is ticking on his attempt to make his latest career choice – farming – pay. "Even if I can afford to lose money year after year, it doesn't give me any pleasure. I can have the best food in the world and people can think, 'Wow, this is wonderful,' but if it's not sustainable, it's a failure," the former Grand Prix world champion admits. What started as a hobby after Scheckter's second wife, Clare, gave him a book on organic farming quickly took over his life. "It became a passion, and then a disease," he says. The pair had just returned to England, Clare's home country, after a stint in the US that ended with him banking millions from the sale of a company he set up after retiring from the F1 circuit in 1980.

They needed somewhere to live, and settled on Laverstoke Park, the historic home of the Portal family, which was famous for printing bank notes; it came with 530 acres attached. "It was a little bit of a fantasy," he recalls, his South African accent still strong despite not having lived there for nearly four decades. "I wanted to produce the best possible tasting food for me and my family without a compromise, and my conclusion was to follow nature very strictly. We have two main keys: slow-growing animals and plants are generally healthy and taste better, and biodiversity is the key to a healthy natural environment." Scheckter's ecological conversion might seem at odds with his former fuel-burning lifestyle, but he claims he has always been a "foodie and a health fanatic". Something, certainly, has been burning the calories he's been consuming: he is as trim a sexagenarian as you're likely to encounter. His white shirt (with Laverstoke Park Farm logo) is tucked tightly into belted Boss jeans and is hiding nothing. There are, however, enough wheels on the farm to help compensate for the Ferraris he drove when he won the world title.

In addition to his Mercedes 4x4 and the countless tractors that are dotted about, two bulldozers are busy shifting the 25,000 steaming tons of compost he is licensed to produce. Although his original intention was to stock his family's larder, not his local supermarket's shelves, Scheckter says he quickly realised that killing a cow meant eating beef for six weeks, and he was keen to apply the diversity principle to his diet as well as his fields. The farm, he says, "just got bigger and bigger to try to make it work commercially". As well as the buffalo, today he has beef cattle, Jersey cows, boar, pigs, ewes and assorted poultry. He also grows a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, as well as hops and vines. Many of his livestock are rare or traditional breeds; he prefers them because they are smaller, grow slower and taste better. He has added salami, bresaola, pâté, sausages, nitrate-free bacon, burgers, and biltong to the fillet steaks he sells in an attempt to use up the other "800 pieces" you get from a carcass.

All the animals are killed on site in what I'm told is the abattoir equivalent to turning left on a plane, even if the livestock concerned have only a one-way ticket. Happily, for this vegetarian correspondent, Friday wasn't killing day at Laverstoke Park, much as Scheckter would have liked it to be. "We kill two to three days a week, but we should be doing five. You can't run a place like this financially with two days," he says, gesturing to the gleaming machinery in the purpose-built abattoir below us. The five-star service is not intended as a sop to the animal welfare movement but because the more relaxed an animal is before its death, the tastier the meat. Apparently. "If you stress an animal in this environment, you get bad meat. If they get scared, the meat changes its colour. It changes its pH. It gets tough, and it tastes different, so we do a lot to keep the animals as calm as possible in here. That's nature's way of making us be kind to animals." Not kind enough not to eat them, though? "No, no. I'm not vegetarian. I'm lazy.

They collect all the vitamins for me for years and then I..." he trails off, then gestures to an apple tree. "You can go to extremes; you can say you don't want to eat things that grow like apples, because they're alive. That's not what I'm about." Moving on, physically as well as philosophically, Scheckter's next stop on our whistle-stop tour of his farm is the dairy, where he has recently added ice-cream to the things he is doing with buffalo milk. Despite feeling queasy from the speed of his corners, I'm treated to a full tasting session: eight flavours in all, spanning liquorice to dolce, the sweet, burnt-caramel version made to his mother's own recipe. I normally take my buffalo milk mozzarellaed, but Scheckter's ice-creams are possibly an improvement even on his much vaunted Italian-style cheese. Sweet, creamy, and no doubt hideously calorific, all eight are a triumph, although peppermint stands out to my mind, possibly because it cuts through the richness of the buffalo milk. Scheckter knows he's taking a gamble by adding ice-cream to his repertoire, but he just can't help himself. "I probably was arrogant.

I started eight start-up companies at once and that's been the biggest problem, because I can't spend enough time on any of them. I can't find the right people. It took me eight years in America to get a good team, and I thought that now I know what I'm doing it's going to be shorter, but it hasn't been. It's all so diverse. Each one is different, from making mozzarella and ice-cream, to salami and bacon, to farming and compost," he says, speaking nearly as fast as he drives. Then there's the soil-testing laboratory that has turned Laverstoke into the "University of Organics", he adds. The farm boasts a full-time microbiologist as well as a microchemist, adding to the complexity of Scheckter's project, as well as his selling points. "We follow nature but we use science to try to understand it a little bit better." Although most of his produce is organic, Scheckter prefers to style himself as a "natural" rather than an organic farmer. What is clear is that he's no Soil Association acolyte, muttering something about the organic standards body being "too political" for him.

He thinks organic food, which has had a tough time of late with shoppers choosing cheaper, conventionally grown alternatives, has a "bad image". He adds: "The more you understand about it, the more you understand the reasons why you should be eating organic. Why would we be putting synthetic things into our body? But I think organic has got a bad image – it's got a Gucci image. It's not at all. It's natural." Either way, it's an exciting ride, even if Scheckter will have to hand himself his own bottle of bubbles when – if – he finally gets his farm into the black. Curriculum vitae 1950 Born in East London, in South Africa's Eastern Cape, where his father owns a Renault dealership. Goes to the nearby Selborne College. 1970 Moves to Britain, where he rapidly ascends to the ranks of Formula One. 1972 Makes his F1 debut with McLaren at the US Grand Prix. 1973 Uses up several of his lives in one of the most colourful crashes Silverstone has ever seen. His car runs wide to the exit at the end of lap one and skids across the track into the pit wall.

Eight following cars pile either into his McLaren or each other. Although the Grand Prix Drivers' Association demands that he be banned, he misses only a few races. 1977 Joins the Wolf team and finishes second to Niki Lauda in the championship. 1979 Signs for Ferrari, pairing up with Gilles Villeneuve. Wins the drivers' championship. Retires the next year after struggling very badly in his 1980 title defence, managing only two points. Moves to the US and sets up a company that created hi-tech simulators to train law enforcement officers and the military. 1996 Moves to England with his second wife, Clare. Buys the 18th-century house at Laverstoke Park, in Hampshire, and 530 surrounding acres to start an organic farm. More about: Jody Scheckter The best and the worst of Formula One By Cameron Curwood Almost always at the beginning of a new year or season, we get bombarded with 'best-of' lists, and 'a-look-back-to' lists, or predictions and thoughts of the future.

People giving us the highlights, and telling us what was the best and worst of the year that just passed, or what will come in the upcoming season. This is not one of those lists. Instead, I give you the best and the worst of Formula One since its inception in 1950. Greatest Driver: Jim Clark When Jim Clark died in an F2 accident in Hockenheim in 1968 he had the most wins ever by an F1 driver, with 25. That record lasted almost six years until Jackie Stewart got his 26th at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1973, but Clark remained in second place for another 14 years, when Alain Prost got his 26th in Brazil in 1987. Even today, 42 years later, he sits seventh all time. Clark scored his wins in an era where there were only about 10 races a year, and cars were not that reliable. He is still tied for third in pole positions, behind only Senna and Schumacher, both of whom had many more race starts (more than double).

John Surtees, 1964 F1 World Champion, Jody Scheckter, 1979 F1 World Champion, Mario Andretti, 1978 F1 World Champion, Sir Jackie Stewart, 1969, 1971, 1973 F1 World Champion, Damon Hill, 1996 F1 World Champion, Nigel Mansell, 1992 F1 World Champion xpb.cc We can look at the stats of a number of drivers and come up with reasons to call them the best. We can think about how much higher Clark's (and Ayrton Senna's) would be had he lived. We can look at how Clark missed some F1 races so he could compete (and win) in Indianapolis, but there is one stat for me that pushes Clark over the edge. He finished in second place, only once -- yes, just once -- in his entire career. If the car was anywhere near the front, he had it in the lead. If the car didn't fall apart, he'd make it win. He never lucked into any wins.

Most Underrated Driver: Graham Hill Can a two time World Champion, an Indy 500 winner, a Le Mans 24 hours winner, 14 time Grand Prix winner, and five time Monaco Grand Prix winner be underrated? You betcha. Whenever people mention the greatest drivers of all time do you ever hear Hill's name mentioned? Not often enough. He is the only man ever to do the triple of wins mentioned above (the triple crown of racing), and add to that the five Monaco GRAND PRIX wins also mentioned (a feat only matched by Senna and Michael Schumacher) and you have one-of-a-kind accomplishments. We do not hear his name enough when discussing the greatest drivers of all time, especially when we consider racing beyond F1. Overrated Driver: Giancarlo Fisichella Fisichella has competed in 231 Grands Prix, in some great cars like Benetton, Renault and Ferrari, including a couple that won the championship. His result of three victories are not sufficient for the opportunities he was given. Has there ever been a race where you sat watching, enthralled by his performance?

A race where you shook your head afterwards and thought, wow, this guy is a great driver -- a future world champion? A race where you thought he had an outstanding drive but his result was less than he deserved? None come to my mind. Jarno Trulli is similar, with 238 entries and one victory, though he never had a championship winning car, and least had the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix, where he was very impressive, leading the race in the Prost-Mugen-Honda. Best Ambassador: Jackie Stewart The Wee Scot is perhaps the best-known F1 driver in North America, along with Mario Andretti, and most of that is due to his work and promotion of the sport after he finished racing. While racing, Stewart began his tireless effort to make F1 safer -- for drivers, fans and marshals -- attempting to turn it from a blood sport, a sport where drivers expected to die, to one where everyone expected to go home safely at the end of the day. His commentating, usually for North American fans not completely familiar with F1, was always informative for the novice and expert alike.

He would always say great things about his sport, yet always be honest and critical where needed. Like the great champions of other sports, he never felt he was bigger than F1, was always humble within it, and always thanked it for what it gave him. He carried all of these attributes with him through being a driver, commentator, public relations expert, and successful team owner. Max Mosley, FIA President Worst Ambassador: Max Mosley I could go on a huge rant about each reason Mosley was bad for F1. Instead I will just point out a few of the low-lights. The most boring races in history. The 1994 Australian Grand Prix. Flip-floppy, ridiculous rule changes. Qualifying procedures that seemed to change daily. The smallest fields since the 1950s. European Union Competition law violations. Breakaway series threats. The 2005 United States Grand Prix. His outrageous criticism of Stewart.

We are extremely lucky that Schumacher slipped off the track and could not continue at the European Grand Prix in 1997, after trying to knock Jacques Villeneuve out of the race, because I don't think Mosley and the FIA would have done anything to take away the championship from Schumacher had he won it. Best Pass (Tie): Nelson Piquet - Hungarian Grand Prix 1986 Piquet was sitting second behind Senna when he got into Senna's slip-stream on the main straight. Piquet pulled out to the inside of the track, with Senna ever so slightly squeezing him. Piquet got alongside and it was now a matter of who would brake last for the corner, a 180 degree right-hander. Piquet did that, but he carried a bit too much speed as he turned into the corner. The back end of his car slid, and he struggled to maintain control as it went wide, and Senna slipped down the inside and maintained his lead. On the next lap, Piquet was again right behind Senna as they entered the main straight.

This time, Senna protected the inside, forcing Piquet to attempt a pass on the outside. Piquet pulled out and got alongside Senna on the outside. Again, it would come down to who would break last, and who could hold onto the car through the corner. Piquet again braked last, turned in, and again his car slid, almost uncontrollably. He held on, keeping the front end of his car next to the curb on the inside, so Senna could not nip through the inside. Remarkably, it worked. Piquet took the lead, and went on to win the race 17 seconds ahead of Senna and a lap ahead of Nigel Mansell. It was a move (two of them actually) of absolute bravery, skill, determination and car control. Best Pass (Tie): Jacques Villeneuve - European Grand Prix 1997 This was not one of those flashy, spectacular passes where cars are sliding, wheels are locking and smoke is coming off the tires. Instead, it was rather simple looking. However, the repercussions of this pass were like no other. For one, it was a pass to decide a championship.

Villeneuve needed to pass Schumacher to win the championship and Schumacher needed to keep Villeneuve behind. On a track that is difficult to pass on, Villeneuve lulled Schumacher into a false sense of security, and made a move from so far back Schumacher could not have expected it. Incredibly it worked. A pass that gave Villeneuve the championship. The start: Michael Schumacher in front of Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen However, the pass also had other effects. Schumacher, the big star, looked like a fool with his ridiculous attempt to knock Villeneuve out of the race by turning into him and crashing his car against Villeneuve's. Suddenly, the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, where Schumacher crashed into Hill as Hill attempted to pass, didn't look so innocent. A man who was the golden boy of F1 now faced the wrath and ridicule of the world. Never has a pass done that before, or since. Best lap: French Grand Prix 1979 Gilles Villeneuve's and Rene Arnoux's last lap in the 1979 French Grand Prix at Dijon.

This one is famous enough I don't need to say anything. Worst Race: French Grand Prix 1996 Nothing happened. There isn't much else to say. Not much happened in the 1995 French Grand Prix either. Best Race: European Grand Prix, Nurburgring, 1999 The race started with a Jordan on Pole Position -- a Jordan, whose driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, was still in the championship hunt. A second formation lap led was needed then the race featured: a barrel-roll accident, rain, some cars on dry tires, some cars on wet tires, good pit- stops, bad pit-stops, accident damage, a disastrous retirement for Frentzen, a new leader, more rain, more cars on wet tires, more cars on dry tries, the new leader David Coulthard on dry tires in the rain sliding off to retirement, and another new leader -- Ralf Schumacher -- also on dry tires. Then, Ralf pitted, and Fisichella (see above) became the leader (still on dry tires). Fisichella also spun off, and then Ralf had a puncture.

This put Johnny Herbert into the lead in the Stewart, with Minardis in fourth and seventh. Luca Badoer, the Minardi driver in fourth, broke his gear box, and Villeneuve (also in the points) lost his clutch, and the BAR team's first chance at points. Mika Hakkinen battled and got his way up to fifth, passing Eddie Irvine in the process. Irvine could not pass Marc Gene in the other Minardi for sixth. The two points difference between Hakkinen and Irvine would be huge in terms of the championship. The podium was an unusual Stewart - Prost - Stewart in terms of constructors. Honorable mention: 1986 Australian Grand Prix had three of the great drivers -- Prost, Piquet and Mansell -- battling for the championship at the last race of the year. The race was eventful, with each guy looking like he would win it at some point, and the one with the least chance, Prost, finally securing it with his win. Silverware doesn't mean much to me but the cars I raced through the '70s do. They are prized relics of my old life and each has a story of its own.

They're not a bad investment, either By Damien Smith The past is of little relevance to Jody Scheckter. He lives in the moment, so buffalo, mozzarella and ice-cream fill most of his waking thoughts — and probably his dreams, too. Laverstoke Park, his organic farm business, is an all-consuming passion. But lack of enthusiasm for his racing past is patently an exaggeration. Bound volumes of motor racing magazines line the book shelves of his magnificent stately home, and while he's kept only one trophy — his 1979 title-winning silverware — there are jaw-dropping treasures to be discovered. Behind the house, in a converted stable block, sit 10 of the single-seaters in which he built a formidable sporting reputation, firstly as a wild youngster in a Merlyn Formula Ford and latterly as a wily old stager who could deliver a coveted championship for Ferrari. The 312T4 is the obvious choice as his most prized racing 'relic'. "I bought the Ferrari after I won the title, and it was the only car I had," he says. "When I came back to England in the mid-1990s I started buying the others.

Kerry Adams, who uses a workshop up the road, helped me collect the cars. They came up for sale, and Kerry would seek them out. But he'd keep quiet about the buyer's identity, to ensure I didn't have to pay too much. "I thought they'd help my sex life!" he jokes. "Bring some young girls here to show them what I used to do... but it doesn't seem to have worked. I use them to show customers when they come around, and they seem to enjoy looking at them." There's one car notable by its absence: the Tyrrell P34 six-wheeler in which Jody won the 1976 Swedish GP. His apathy for it is well known, although he says: "I wouldn't mind one. But I've spent all the money on the farm now. The cars are a good investment. I've also got the Porsche 917/10 I raced in Can-Am and that's nearly restored. It's just an incredible car. It's a seat put on an 1100 horsepower engine. I bought it for £500,000 and it's probably worth about £4m now.

When I die the kids will probably flog them all off. The younger ones don't really relate all this to me." As we walk around his collection, the familiar nonchalance fails to hide his connection to these machines. They do mean something to him. "Maybe I look back more as I get older," he admits. "I suppose I should write a book some time. But I'd find it very boring because I'd have to spend time looking back." Still, he agrees to indulge us today. For a few minutes, he allows farming matters to take a back seat to reminisce on his old life and the cars in which he courted both fame and infamy. * Merlyn MK11A In March 1971, 21-year-old South African Jody Scheckter pitched up in cold and wet Britain on the back of a 'Driver to Europe' scheme. He'd shown promise in Formula Ford at home, but now he'd really find out what he was made of. First, he needed a car. Step forward Colin Vandervell, who'd just come off the back of a successful season with this neat and tidy racer, built by the little constructor from Colchester.

"I bought the Merlyn from Colin Vandervell, second-hand. This is the 'Magic Merlyn', which Emerson Fittipaldi drove before Colin and I. Back in '71, I said to Colin, 'Deliver it to Brands Hatch, please'. I didn't have any spanners, nothing at all. We did the first race at the Race of Champions. I think I was on the second row, spun and came through the field to second. That was the first time I'd run in the rain. My style made people interested in what I was doing. I crashed a lot in the Formula Ford, and getting to the circuits was always a task. In South Africa you had such open roads. A journey that would take 30 minutes there would take two hours here. I was learning the circuits in 20 laps to get on the grid. It was all good practice." * Merlyn MK21 Jody didn't hang around long in Formula Ford. Finding work at Merlyn's workshop, he was soon eyeing a step up into Formula 3. He'd already earned his wild man reputation, but there was no doubting his speed.

Wins at Oulton Park, Mallory Park and Thruxton would follow. "I was a bracket-maker for Merlyn, then became a welder. This car was lying around so I asked if I could use it. I borrowed a set of tyres from Firestone, Holbay lent me an engine, I put it together and it was very quick. I also raced an Ehrlich that year and won a heat at Silverstone, but then switched to this." * McLaren M21 At the end of a promising first year in England, Scheckter was on the establishment's radar. Both McLaren and Team Surtees offered him Formula 2 deals, and he chose the former, attracted by the prospect of a quasi-works campaign that would concentrate on him alone. But the Ralph Bellamy monocoque design would prove a tricky proposition. Formula 1 aces Denny Hulme and Peter Gethin would be drafted in to help sort the car, but plans to put the M21 into production were shelved and Scheckter would win just a single race. "It was my first car after joining McLaren's, and it was a big step for me. I have good memories, despite it not being an easy time.

There was a guy who used to shine the cars every day, which was nice but we weren't competitive. We went to test at Goodwood and they said I was taking the wrong line, that I was coming into the corners too early. Eventually they found that one shock absorber at the back was broken. But at least the car was very shiny... Then Denny (Hulme) went out and did a 14.2sec lap. My best was a 15.5 or something. Then I got in, and did a 13.8. Boy, this car was much better now. He'd set it up properly, plus we'd found the broken shock. The next race was Crystal Palace, which I won. Even in Fl I benefited from Denny's experience, although he didn't tell me everything. We had no data then, it was all on the driver. One of my skills was that I could drive around anything, but that was both good and bad, looking back." * McLaren M19A Jody's first F1 car enjoyed moderate success in 1971 and '72, in the hands of Denny Hulme.

The Kiwi took one win and a string of podiums in the Ralph Bellamy design. At the end of '72 Lotus had come knocking at the door, and to prevent Scheckter opening it McLaren offered him an F1 debut at Watkins Glen. Barely 18 months after his UK Formula Ford debut at the Race of Champions, Jody conjured a third-row grid slot. He ran as high as fourth before a sudden shower caught him out. Still, he recovered to finish ninth — not bad. He'd reappear in a revised M19C at the start of '73 for his home GP at Kyalami, where he qualified on the front row. "Watkins Glen, 1972. That was my first one, and nobody knew who I was, which was nice. This was a good car. I came in right at the end of its race life, of course. McLaren was one of the more advanced teams. At Tyrrell I felt they were behind McLaren.

And if you look at the cars now you'll see how refined they were compared to cars that came even much later." * McLaren M23 Despite the promise shown in Kyalami, Scheckter had doubts about how '73 would turn out. McLaren had canned its F2 programme, and with Hulme and Peter Revson the first choices in F1, only occasional GP outings were on offer. When opportunities arose, he needed to make the most of them. At Paul Ricard — just his third GP — Scheckter found himself in Gordon Coppuck's new M23, a car that would turn out to be one of the most successful in F1 history. In France, Jody led sensationally until 12 laps from the end, when Emerson Fittipaldi made a move and the pair ended up in the catch fencing. If they hadn't already noticed before, they knew now: Scheckter had arrived. But his rise would be pulled up short at Silverstone in July, when he triggered the infamous nine-car pile-up that decimated John Surtees' team. Jody hid in the team motorhome.

After a couple of late-season appearances, Scheckter moved on from McLaren, frustrated by the lack of opportunity. As for the M23, it would rack up 16 GP wins over four seasons and carry James Hunt to the '76 world title. "People think of me in this car at Silverstone, with the big pile-up, but I prefer to think of Paul Ricard that year. I was competitive. It was the only time I had a senior driver in the same team as me, in Denny. When I got to Tyrrell in 1974, I was the senior driver. That didn't worry me at the time, but I wonder if I could have become more competitive by al continuing alongside someone like Denny." * Motul M1 Perhaps the most surprising car to find in Scheckter's collection, given how brief his encounter would be with this pug-faced Formula 2. Without a full-time F1 deal, Jody signed to join Ron Dennis and Neil Trundle at Rondel Racing for some F2 in '73.

The smart, ambitious multi-car team had performed strongly in previous years with customer Brabhams, but its step up to constructor status would prove Rondel's undoing. A lack of funding stymied Ray Jessop's design, named in deference to the team's title sponsor — which didn't pay up. Scheckter would withdraw after just two races, although Henri Pescarolo and Tim Schenken would win a race each. Bob Wollek, Tom Pryce and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud were also on the driving strength. "It wasn't great. I don't really remember working with Ron, but I remember there were five cars and Tim Schenken was the lead driver. He was always joking around, which I thought was a pain in the arse. I wanted to be serious. The car never seemed to work, it had no downforce at all. I don't have any good memories. I thought it was horrible." * Trojan T101 After the Silverstone debacle of '73, Jody flew out to the US, back to his dual campaign in Formula 5000 and Can-Am.

The F5000 Trojan, run off the back of a trailer by Sid Taylor, would bring his first major international title after a season-long battle with Brian Redman. Scheckter's wild reputation would follow him across the Atlantic — and he didn't exactly dispel it with his antics in the big single-seater. In all, he would complete 19 races in the States during the most varied season of his career. "You could really throw this car around. It was a time in my career when I was wild as hell, I suppose. I got to America and we won the championship, but crashed a lot too. At one race Brian Redman caught me up and I kept that thing sideways the whole time to keep him behind me. But a bolt had come out of the rear suspension, which was why it was sliding so much. And you had the tyres to do it in those days, too. I didn't compare it to F1. I just drove it as fast as I could. American tyres seemed to be different from those in Europe. But with this, I was very fast in the and it would stay like that for the rest of the 9, opening laps. So I would pull 10 seconds ahead race.

That's how I won the championship." * Tyrrell 007 Without a permanent berth at McLaren in F1, Jody had welcomed Ken Tyrrell's advances for '74. It was all hush-hush, but Jackie Stewart was about to retire and Tyrrell wanted a promising youngster to join new team leader Francois Cevert. But after tragedy at Watkins Glen, everything would change. For Scheckter, the apprenticeship was over. In the circumstances — following in the footsteps of a three-time champion and in the wake of Cevert's devastating loss — Jody was little short of brilliant in 1974. Victories in Sweden and Great Britain were the highlights and Scheckter finished an impressive third in the standings. A third win in 007 would follow in South Africa in '75, but little did he know that Tyrrell's long, slow decline to mediocrity had begun. "Derek Gardner wanted to build a car that was easier to drive than the 006. Was that a mistake? I don't know. But we were competitive. We left Italy one point off the World Championship lead in that first year with Tyrrell. Following Jackie Stewart wasn't easy.

Ken would say 'Jackie did this, and Jackie did that', which I guess is normal. I was a young driver, after all. But look how sophisticated the M23 is compared to the 007. For example, how the engine cover is flush to the block compared to the Tyrrell, keeping the airflow to the back wing clean. And how the radiators are tucked away neatly on the McLaren. With what they know now about aerodynamics, I'm sure one of the modern guys could come and make a couple of tweaks and find a couple of seconds on either of these cars." * Wolf WR1 The six-wheeled P34 was the final straw for Scheckter at Tyrrell and by the end of '76 he was ready for a change. Enter eccentric Austrian-born Canadian Walter Wolf. He pieced together the equivalent of an Fl `superteam'. Peter Warr was hired from Lotus to run the operation, with former Hesketh designer Harvey Postlethwaite producing a conventional, but tidy, Fl car.

A young Patrick Head assisted him, before leaving to rejoin Wolf's ex-partner Frank Williams, who'd quit the team or been forced to leave, depending on who you believe (they went on to enjoy quite a bit of success at their next team). Jody completed the picture for a one-car attack, bringing with him Roy Topp, his mechanic from Tyrrell. None of them could have guessed what would happen next. The striking deep blue and gold car caused a shock by winning on its debut in Argentina. Further wins in Monaco and Canada, plus a string of podiums, left him a distant runner-up in the championship to Niki Lauda's Ferrari. But in these early days of ground-effect Fl cars, Wolf was about to be left behind. Jody would be winless in '78 for the first time since his maiden part-season with McLaren, five years earlier. Still, from the third race in, he had a new deal in the bag — the biggest and most important of his career. "It was fabulous in 1977, because there were just 20 people in the team. It was so tightly knit, but we were leading the championship halfway through the season. It was a lovely little car.

We won first time out, but we were consistent rather than fast. I came up behind Carlos Pace, who was taking funny lines, but he'd been sick in his helmet. I was very fit and we won the race by keeping going. I remember James Hunt saying it didn't matter, that those points wouldn't make any difference. At Long Beach we were very competitive. We should have won there. We were leading most of the way, then I got a slow puncture eight laps from the end. The rubber squeezed over the hole, so I kept going but eventually Andretti and Lauda passed me. I had something like eight pounds of pressure in the tyre by the end. I worked really well with Patrick Head. He did quite a lot of th design for this car. I got along well with Harvey, too. We seemed to relate to each other." * Ferrari 312T4 In the era of ground effects, Mauro Forghieri's T4 was forever compromised by its 'boxer' flat 12 engine. Still, it was effective. The combination of Jody, Gilles, the proven 312T series and, vitally, Michelin rubber proved the class of the field.

Lotus lost its way after the dominance of '78 with its porpoising Type 80, Renault and Williams scored their first wins, but couldn't string together enough form to collar the championship, and Ligier started strongly with a pair of wins for Jacques Laffite, but then faded badly as the season progressed. Scheckter asserted himself over team-mate Villeneuve as Ferrari's title hope with back-to-back victories at Zolder and Monaco, while strong reliability allowed him to score regularly and well. "Ferrari didn't have the magic for me when I came over, but it was something I discovered. I had a fantastic time and it was great fun. Everybody said I was a difficult guy and it would be the most disastrous combination, and it was the opposite. I suppose I'm as full of bullshit as they are. The food was fantastic, and Gilles (Villeneuve) and I got on really well together. It was hard work, but fun. In Italy they try to make you fight each other, but Gilles and I were close enough to avoid that. We were mature, I suppose. There was one time at Silverstone where they gave me one lap to go and it wasn't right.

John Watson passed me because of it. I complained when I came in and the next thing, it was all over the Italian papers. So the Old Man called us all in for a team meeting on Monday morning. I'd spoken to Gilles and we used this meeting to our advantage. We didn't have much in the way of ground effects on the Ferrari with the flat 12 any space under the car was taken up by the exhaust pipes. But (Mauro) Forghieri didn't want to listen. So I said to the Old Man that we shouldn't be fighting among ourselves. He asked what we needed and I replied 'ground effects'. No one else would say it because they were all scared of him. Then we went to Monza and found we had more revs and more downforce. People don't realise what that means to a driver it's the most exciting thing you can get. The feeling of being World Champion lasted all of a week because Ferrari wanted me to drive at Imola in a non-championship race, and I really didn't want to. I'd spent eight years trying to win the championship. Now I'd won it, there was relief more than anything else.

But looking back today, I'm glad I bought the car." Jody Scheckter | Laverstoke Park Farm Ltd | ZoomInfo.com Laverstoke Park Farm Ltd HQ Phone: +44 1256 772841 Get ZoomInfo Grow + Get 10 Free Contacts a Month Please agree to the terms and conditions I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . I understand that I will receive a subscription to ZoomInfo Grow at no charge in exchange for downloading and installing the ZoomInfo Contact Contributor utility which, among other features, involves sharing my business contacts as well as headers and signature blocks from emails that I receive. United Kingdom Company Description Laverstoke Park offers an organic range along with a non organic range, You can choose from our "complete" range which is 100% nutritionally balanced or our "pick and mix" range which allows you the freedom to create your own unique diet for your dog/s. A ...

more Find other employees at this company (68) Background Information Web References (187 Total References) Laverstoke Laverstoke owner Jody Scheckter and Nutriment founder Suzanne Brock talk about this joint venture READ MORE says Jody Scheckter of Laverstoke Park Farm. A Change of Pace | A Change of Pace | Jody Scheckter on Biodynamic Farming ... Jody Scheckter Most people know Jody Scheckter as a daring South African Formula 1 racer in the 70s and world champion winner in 1979. What many may not know is Scheckter's life since as a savvy and successful entrepreneur and a progressive thinker now involved in the pioneering world of biodynamic farming. To explain the root of this motivation and inspiration throughout his life he says, "Although it's changing as I get older, it was probably the fear of losing that has motivated me the most." The biodynamic farming method developed in the 1920s presents a myriad of solutions to today's growing ecology, population and food dilemmas. "Basically," Scheckter says, "we follow nature.

We spoke to him about the importance of this farming method in today's world as well as his Scheckter originally started Laverstoke Park Farm to produce healthy, organic food for himself and his family, but as the produce out grew their demands, he produce available to the public. ... Scheckter thinks so, "The fundamentals of natural, organic farming are the same for small holding to big farms," he explains. In fact Laverstoke supported Farm Africa, a non-profit organisation that aims to alleviate Africa's food crisis, when they visited a farm in the Transkei, a struggling economic area in South Africa. "The sad part was that they were using chemicals that most of the world had banned when they could have been using what they had there naturally," Scheckter says. ... Since starting the charity, Jody tells us, " she has had about fifteen thousand children visit. Princess Ann opened it just over a year ago. The centre focuses on teaching students about sustainable land management, farm animal welfare and healthy food production from food to fork. As for his favourite product from Laverstoke, Scheckter says, "I always say our ice-cream is the best in the world as it is made from buffalo milk." ...

This Day in Motorsport History: Jody Scheckter Born In East London, South Africa - January 29, 1950 Jody Scheckter Born In East London, South Africa - January 29, 1950 January 29, 1950 (" Scheckter Monza 1979 ". Via Wikipedia ) Born in East London, South Africa. The 1979 Formula One World Champion, he rapidly ascended to the ranks of Formula One after moving to Britain in 1970. His Formula 1 debut occurred at Watkins Glen in 1972 with McLaren where he ran as high as third place before spinning and finishing ninth. Immediately becoming a name to watch, he continued his development the following year, winning the 1973 SCCA L&M Championship and racing five times in F1.

In France, he almost won in his third start in F1 before crashing into Emerson Fittipaldi, the reigning World Champion, who said after the crash about Scheckter: "This madman is a menace to himself and everybody else and does not belong in Formula 1." In his next start, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Scheckter was involved in a big accident which took nearly a dozen cars out of the race. The Grand Prix Drivers Association demanded his immediate banishment, which was only put off when McLaren agreed to rest their driver for four races. During the practice for the American event at the Watkins Glen circuit, Frenchman François Cevert, who was to be Scheckter's Tyrrell teammate for 1974 was killed in an appalling accident at the fast uphill Esses corners. Scheckter was behind Cevert when he crashed, and Scheckter stopped his McLaren, got out of his car and attempted to get Cevert out of his destroyed Tyrrell, but the 29-year-old Frenchman had been cut in half by the circuit's poorly installed Armco barriers and was already dead.

This left an indelible mark on the South African, and it caused him to abandon his reckless ways, and he become more mature as a result of witnessing Cevert's destructive accident. Tyrrell in 1974 gave him his first full-time drive in F1. Jody rewarded them with a third-place finish in the drivers' championship and a pair of wins in Sweden and Britain. During the year, he scored points in eight consecutive races, one of the longer scoring streaks of the time. A slight off-year followed, although he did become the only South African to win the South African Grand Prix, but his third year with the team in 1976 gave him another third place finish in the drivers' championship. (photo credit: gillfoto via photopin cc ) In that season, Tyrrell introduced the most radical car in F1 history, the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34. Scheckter gave the six-wheeler its only win on Sweden's Anderstorp circuit and in his twelve races with the car, he scored points ten times. This included a thrilling race-long battle for the lead in the American Grand Prix between himself and his great friend James Hunt.

Scheckter left for Walter Wolf's new team in 1977 and Scheckter gave the team a win in its maiden race. He won twice more with the team and was often on the podium, but finished second on points behind a more dominant Niki Lauda. (photo credit: gillfoto via photopin cc ) A seventh-place finish with the team in 1978 followed and he left the team after the season to join Ferrari to partner Gilles Villeneuve in the team's ground effect 312T4 car. Critics felt he would not get along well with management at Ferrari, but he far surpassed expectations and helped give F1's most recognisable team another constructors' championship, while Scheckter's consistent finishes, with three wins among them, gave him the drivers' championship in 1979. However, he struggled very badly in his 1980 title defence, even failing to qualify for one race. After managing only two points, Scheckter retired from the team and the sport. Scheckter was the last driver to win a drivers' championship for Ferrari until Michael Schumacher in 2000.

(photo credit: garrellmillhouse via photopin cc ) In 1981, Scheckter won the World Superstars competition in Key Biscayne, Florida. He defeated athletes such as Russ Francis, Renaldo Nehemiah, Peter Mueller, Rick Barry, Gaétan Boucher and Andy Ripley. In 1983 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. After Scheckter's retirement, he founded FATS Inc, a company which built firearms training simulators for military, law enforcement and security organisations. The sale of the company provided funds to allow Scheckter to help the racing careers of his sons Tomas and Toby. Tomas races in the Indy Racing League where he has won two races. Scheckter's brother, Ian, also raced in F1 for a few years. Scheckter now spends his time as an biodynamic farmer. As an organic farming expert, Scheckter was featured in 2005 on the Visionhealth DVD and TV documentaries "Asthma: An Integrated Approach", "Arthritis: An Integrated Approach" and "Diabetes: An Integrated Approach".

On 20 November 2011, he also appeared on the Countryfile television show to make a case for organic food. Scheckter's Laverstoke Park Farm was also featured on BBC's "Escape To the Country" where Jody showed viewers how Buffalo Mozzarella was made. In December 2009, Scheckter announced his intention to produce a biodynamic sparkling wine. Posted by

Question: Formula One racing driver Jody Scheckter was born in the city of East London in which country?
Answer: South Africa